Risk factors for mortality in patients with invasive mucormycosis

Mucormycosis is an uncommon and life-threatening fungal infection. The clinical predictors of outcome were evaluated in patients with invasive mucormycosis.

We retrospectively reviewed histologically proven cases of invasive mucormycosis in our institution from 1996 to 2012.

A total of 64 patients were analyzed. The median age was 59 years (interquartile range [IQR], 50-67), and 32 patients (50%) were male. The most common underlying diseases were diabetes mellitus (67%), hematologic malignancy (22%), and solid cancer (19%). The most common infection sites were the rhino-orbito-cerebral area (56%) and the lungs (31%). The 180-day all-cause mortality was 33%. Disseminated infection was associated with increased mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 169.74, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.41 to 4492.64; P = 0.002). Pulmonary infection (HR: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.66; P = 0.02) and complete surgical removal of infected tissue (HR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.64; P = 0.01) were associated with decreased mortality.

These results suggest that patients with mucormycosis had a lower risk of mortality if they developed a pulmonary infection, rather than a disseminated infection and with complete debridement of infected tissue.